RoSl
When a clash of cultures accidentally leads to Scootaloo getting in a fight with her shy new classmate, it's up her big sis Rainbow Dash (and a garishly-dressed Twilight) to help her realize the importance of getting along with griffons. ·Seether00

CoSl
Rainbow Dash gains leadership of the Wonderbolts. She quickly discovers that whoever coined the term 'the joys of command' must have possessed a twisted sense of humor. Scootaloo arrives with a familiar, cocky attitude, not helping matters. ·Seether00

Ad
Withholding their missing father's location, Discord ensnares a pair of siblings in a scheme to free the Sun from Princess Celestia's grasp. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are sent in hot pursuit with orders to stop them at all costs. ·Seether00

Thanks, the section on taxes was my favorite bit when putting the story together. I just think that a lot of humor can be had with bureaucracy and I figured Equestria must have someway of generating revenue.

I felt pointing out why the Princess couldn't just intervene was important. I have a read a number of stories, where I have asked, why didn't they just contact the Princess and have her fix this? Also, the whole land income thing was pulled from something i heard in a history class.

Usually a savings like that is something that has been building for several years with money you had left to spare after the rest of expenses. Meaning that dipping into it it would likely never be as much as it once was or what it could have been.

What is sad is that our own fear of these petty bureaucrats is emulated in this story. Revenue agents are not God, they are not omnipotent, they are not immortal or unstoppable. They are not, in fact, arguably even a legitimate branch of governance--- the IRS has only existed for a short portion of American history, as has the income tax. Both could be abolished tomorrow and replaced with a smaller, more humble system-- one that does not violate our economy, our privacy, or our dignity.

There are certain myths about taxation:

1) Taxation must be ruinous, complicated, and painful

2) The tax agency is all powerful and unstoppable

3) the graduated income tax has always existed, and shall always exist

4) the IRS is untouchable

So long as we propagate those myths in our culture, even in jest, we secure their illegitimate power.

As usual, I'll have to agree with you on that. It was simply too predictable, not very amusing, and...well, I have a rule. If you present Equestria as having a ridiculous amount of paperwork/bureaucracy, having a bunch of ruthless secret agents hounding ponies, or Celestia being a total pushover...I call bullshit, and trust me I called bullshit.

Actually, the ponies appear to be on a straight gold standard, as opposed to our own fiat standard, which (If i remember correctly) means that they would be less likely to have developed a dedicated revenue agency in the first place due to simpler economic structure.

This is, quite honestly, refreshingly hilarious. The mane six's reactions were spot on, Pinkie was being Pinkie, and Snowflake was so out of left field he couldn't have been anything but hilarious. When you're like me and spend all day with monsters fighting monsters and ponies burning in the sun, it's really nice to come across a story like this that can just make me laugh and loosen up a bit, and I couldn't stop laughing. Thanks for writing this.